Worry is frequently experienced by people in everyday life. While worry may be a normal part of life, it becomes problematic when it is excessive and uncontrollable. Past research has found that high levels of worry are associated with the tendency to interpret ambiguous information in a negative (threatening) manner. Although cognitive bias modification for interpretation (CBM-I) has been shown to be effective in promoting a more positive (benign) interpretation bias (near transfer) which also transfers to reductions in worry (far transfer), there are individual differences in intervention outcome. To identify potential predictors of CBM-I outcome, the current thesis examined the cross-sectional associations between different cognitive mechanisms (i.e., attentional control, cognitive flexibility, sensitivity to reward, and imagery ability) in relation to interpretation bias and worry in worry-prone young adults. Then, we examined whether the outcome of CBM-I could be predicted by the cognitive mechanisms that are associated with interpretation bias and worry. Overall, the findings suggest that reduced levels of attentional control, cognitive flexibility, sensitivity to reward, and imagery ability are associated with greater worry and a more negative/less positive interpretation bias. In addition, individual differences in these cognitive mechanisms significantly explained 18-38% of the variability in change in interpretation bias and worry at the end of single/multi-session CBM-I training. Interestingly, the same set of predictors did not predict change in worry symptoms in the longer term following CBM-I training. Furthermore, differences in some of the predictors of outcome were observed in single-session and multi-session CBM-I training. All in all, the findings have implications for identifying predictors of outcome in other mechanism-focused interventions. In addition, the current research lays the groundwork for future research to tailor and augment CBM-I training to better suit individual differences.
A New Approach to Predict the Outcome of Cognitive Bias Modification for Interpretation by Examining the Cognitive Processes Associated With Interpretation Bias and Worry
Wang, Y. (Author). 1 Apr 2023
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy